Why it's necessary to pre-pay at the pump

Because of the high cost of gas and diesel fuel and the rise in fuel theft, more and more gas stations have been forced to go "pre-pay at the pump." Unfortunately, as station owners ourselves, we have joined the ranks of those adopting this policy. As a society, we have grown accustomed to convenience and this is anything but convenient but it is a necessary step to stop fuel theft. You cannot go into a retail store or a grocery store and load up your purchases into your vehicle, then go back in to pay. Try this and you will find yourself in jail. Why should it be any different for gas stations?

With that said, it is important to be an informed fuel consumer when it comes to pre-pay at the pump protocol.

Pre-authorization limits are set up by every debit/credit card issuer. (Issuer being the key word, not the gas station.) Industry standards are as follow but amounts could vary:

? Pin-based debit: $50

? American Express, MasterCard: $100

? WEX, Voyager, Fuelman: $125

? Visa, Discover: $75

Debit/credit card issuers may place hold amounts ranging from $0 to $125 on cardholders accounts for pay at the pump transactions.

In laymen's terms:

A) Pre-authorization limit is the amount of fuel you can pump, at one time, with each swipe of your debit/credit card. Most issuers will allow up to three swipes.

B) Hold amount is the amount of money your debit/credit card issuer is going to "put aside from your account" until they see how much fuel you are going to purchase. (The gas pump doesn't know if you have $5 or $5,000 in your account so this "hold amount" insures you have at least that amount in your account). This "hold amount" is not deposited into the gas stations bank account even though your bank statement lists the gas station's name.

We hope this will help clear up any misconceptions and/or confusion on pre-pay at the pump transactions. If you have any further questions, please speak with your debit/credit card issuer for further explanation of their policies.

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Why it's necessary to pre-pay at the pump

Because of the high cost of gas and diesel fuel and the rise in fuel theft, more and more gas stations have been forced to go 'pre-pay at the pump.' Unfortunately, as station owners ourselves, we